


Estinto

by OnceAndFloral



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: M/M, One Shot, and yes, basically fluff, chloe and rich are p good friends, i did need to use a fancy musical term for the title, i project my problems of performing onto jeremy, open mic musician au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 16:20:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11993454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceAndFloral/pseuds/OnceAndFloral
Summary: Estinto.extinct, extinguished; i.e., as soft as possible, lifeless, barely audible. instruction to a musician to play as softly as possible.Jake had never really been one for open mics before





	Estinto

Jake had never been one for open mics. He didn’t really have ability to focus on only audio so he didn’t see much point of going. But now he had an essay to write, and he needed Holy Grounds wifi, caffeine and ambient noise.

He hadn’t exactly been listening to the sets, mostly absorbed in his work. It had mostly been a bunch of musicians but there were a few mediocre (and less than mediocre) comedians up too. Nothing attention grabbing, except the chic with the recorder who managed to burst Jake’s eardrums.

It wasn’t until about halfway through the show that anything actually interesting happened.

Everyone in the tables tentatively clapped as some guy with a with a saxophone left the small stage. Jake glanced up from his laptop, taking a sip from his coffee. He wasn’t amazing, but at least he wasn’t like Recorder Girl and nearly caused blood to pool in Jake’s ears. Honestly at this point he was contemplating leaving and risking writing this without coffee.

His thoughts were cut short as a loud bang reverberated through the small coffee shop, almost causing Jake to fall straight out of his seat.

A guy about Jake’s age stood at the door, breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon. Various leaves and petals stuck in his curly hair, giving him the look of some kind of wild spirit. “I’m sorry I’m late, I ran all the way here after I real-realized I was late. Is there-is there still a spot on the list?”

The barista nodded. “Someone skipped over one of the upcoming spots.”

He let out a huge sigh. “Okay, good.” He suddenly seemed to realize that almost everyone in the cafe was staring at him, shoulders hunching up and curling in on himself as he sat down at a table in the corner.

Jake's thoughts of leaving were wiped off the table. This guy seemed a little to interesting to pass up on. 

He kept an eye on him in between typing up sentences. The guy (who Jake had dubbed Flower Boy) refused to look up from the sheets of paper in front of him, hugging an instrument bag to his chest like a teddy bear. He looked anxious, afraid. Jake would offer up some kind of comfort but he felt like that would be weird coming from a stranger.

It was only two more sets until Flower Boy stepped up to the mic, after a rather impressive set with an accordion. He held a ukulele, using his free hand to comb the leftover leaves and petals out of his hair with his fingers. “Well uh. I’d hate to be the guy who had to follow up the last set.” He paused. “Oh wait…”

That heard him a laugh from all around the cafe. Flower Boy grinned, absentmindedly plucking at the strings on his instrument. “I know ukuleles aren’t as like, mature as guitar, but my fingers can’t reach across all the frets, so I’ve got to settle for the baby version.” This guy was almost a totally different person from the one from earlier. He was confident, joking. Jake honestly expected him to get even quieter once he stepped up. He was caught up in his analyzing this he almost missed the point where Flower Boy started singing.

But _Jesus fuck, when he started singing_. Jake jolted up a bit in his chair. The other singers hadn’t been _bad_ , per se, but this guy’s voice blew them out of the water. Though that might have been. It actually took Jake a few verses to actually begin processing words.

_”Hold on, one more time with feeling.”_

This wasn’t normal, right? To actually be unable to move because you’re enraptured with someone’s voice? That definitely wasn’t normal. Or at least, it had never happened to Jake before.

_”Try it again, breathing's just a rhythm.  
Say it in your mind until you know that the words are right.”_

After that line, Flower Boy frowned as if he’d messed something up. If he did, Jake couldn’t hear it. 

Jake wasn’t exactly a music student though.

_”You thought by now you'd be so much better than you are.”_

Something in his voice changed, becoming more emotional. Flower Boy gripped a bit tighter at the neck of his ukulele. 

_”You thought by now they'd see that you had come so far,_  
And the pride inside their eyes would synchronize into a love you’ve never know,  
So much more than you’ve been shown.” 

His voice cracked almost imperceivable. Jake probably wouldn’t have caught it if he hadn’t been absolutely fucking captivated by this guy. The faint traces of sadness slipped off his face as he started the chorus again, changed into a smile (That Jake may or may not have thought looked much better on him).

_”Hold on, one more time with feeling,_  
Try it again, breathing's just a rhythm.  
Say it in your mind until you know that the words are right,  
This is why we fight.” 

Flower Boy’s next songs went by way too fast for Jake’s liking, but probably too slow for his essay’s taste. Jake snapped out of whatever trance he was in as Flower Boy hopped off stage, smiling nervously at the people sitting at the table next to the stage complimenting him. Jake shoved all of his shit into his bag as quickly as he could, moving over to the counter where the sign up list was taped to the stone. All it said in the spot for the person that had just performed was “Jeremy” in thin, loopy scrawl. Jake looked up, scanning the small crowd for Flower Boy-Jeremy. He had completely disappeared.

Wait what the fuck?

Jake turned to the barista. “What the fuck just happened?”

She looked up from the cash register. “I’m sorry sir?”

“That guy just disappeared.”

“Oh, you mean Jeremy? He always leaves after his set, I think staying gets to his nerves.”

Jake groaned, cursing softly under his breath. The barista seemed to take pity on him. “He never misses an open mic. We have them every month on the first Friday.”

“I have to wait _that_ long?!”

“I’m sorry, that’s just when we have them.”

Great. Jake sighed, thanking the barista anyways. This was stupid. He was getting worked up over someone who he knew a maybe whole three things about.

He picked up one of the leaves that had fallen out of Jeremy’s hair. Jake was in a little to deep.

* * *

“What if I invented time travel?” Jake asked, staring up at the ceiling.

“I mean sure, if you somehow become a master of quantum mechanics.” Chloe didn’t look up from painting Rich’s nails.

“Like. In two days.”

“Dude, setting goals is good for yourself but I think that’s a little much.” Rich laughed from the floor with Chloe. “What’s got you suddenly interested in time travel?”

“Maybe I want a shitty movie made after me.” Jake said defensively. Chloe and Rich fixed him with a disbelieving look. He sighed. “I’m impatient and the open mic is next month.”

“Holy shit dude, you have it bad.” Rich grinned. Chloe frowned.

“The fuck are you two talking about?”

Jake caught the mischievous look on Rich’s face. “No wait, Rich, don’t-!”

“Jake saw this dude at the open mic at Holy Grounds or whatever the fuck the other day and he’s got a fucking crush. Like a bad one, he was gushing and everything.”

“I was not!”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you were an open mic type guy.”

“I’m not. I had an essay and I needed the caffeine.”

She smirked, finally looking up from Rich’s nails. “So the great Jake Dillinger has a crush?”

Jake groaned, flipping over on the bed and burying his face in a pillow to muffle the sound. “Rich, I told you that you should have shut up, now she’s going to be on my case all month.”

“Well come on, you’ve got to give a girl some details.” She rested her chin on her hand. “So what’s this guy’s name.”

“I… Shut up Rich!” Jake half-heartedly chucked a pillow at Rich as he started laughing. “I don’t know, okay!?”

“Oh my god. Your ass is in _deep_.”

“I get that, Chlo.” Jake rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his palm. “I mean, I know his first name is Jeremy, but not his last name, and Jeremy isn’t exactly uncommon.”

“Well what’s he look like?” Chloe asked. “I might be able to find him before the next open mic.”

“Bet you can’t.” Rich smirked. “Fifty bucks.”

“You’re on.”

Jake dragged his hands down his face. “He’s got curly brown hair, I think green eyes? Scrawny, shorter than you but taller than Rich.”

“Hey!” Rich shouted.

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Everyone is taller than you Rich.”

“That doesn’t mean I like it when people point it out.” He pouted. “Enough about Jake’s boy problems. I want to talk about my boy problems. And girl problems.”

“Oh my god, Rich.”

“It’s not my fucking fault that there’s a hot guy and a hot girl in my class!”

“True, but Jake’s boy problems are a lot more interesting than your boy problems.” Chloe mused, drumming her nails against the floor. 

“I take personal offense to that.”

“I’m kidding, Rich. Get the guy a bouquet and the girl a twenty four pack of markers.”

Jake stared at Chloe. “Markers?”

“No girl is ever going to say no to a twenty four pack of markers.”

* * *

Jake hunched over his almost empty cup of coffee, fingers wrapped around it to absorb the last dredges of warmth. He wasn’t exactly having the best day, and recently the small coffee shop had been rather comforting. At least he had coffee here.

It wasn’t very busy on days without events-such as open mics- so there was maybe two other people in the cafe with Jake. He stared at the small amount of liquid left in the cup, sighing and getting up from his seat. He needed a refill.

The dark skinned barista gave him a bright smile as he stepped up to the counter again. “You finished that cup pretty fast. That kind of day, huh?”

“Yep.” Jake sighed. “Just. Give me the most caffeinated things on the menu.”

“You got it.” He tapped around on the register. “Hey, we’ve got an open mic on Friday, and I know that it seems like I’m just promoting it because it’s my job, but my friend is going to be performing.”

“I was actually already planning on coming, actually. I’m trying to meet someone.”

“Aw really? Guess we’ll see each other then.” He grinned. “I’m Michael.”

“Jake.”

“It’s nice to meet you Jake. I hope I’ll see you Friday.”

Jake glanced at the stage in the corner. “Me too.”

* * *

“Really, you guys don’t have to come.” 

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Oh yea, like I’d miss out finding the guy who somehow evaded me for a month.”

“And I want to see you guys kiss.” Rich grinned.

“I have literally no guarantee that will happen.”

Rich placed a hand over his heart. “Jake, I can guarantee you are in fact hot and this guy will definitely want to kiss you.”

“Thanks?”

“No problem.”

Chloe dropped her bag in a seat, sitting down. “I want an iced latte.”

“Gimme black with sugar.” Rich piped up.

Well then. “I guess I’m ordering the coffee?” Jake sighed, smiling nonetheless.

“This is your trip dude.” Rich said, lounging back in one of the chairs. “If you could get me a chocolate chip cookie too I’d die for you so.”

“Fine, I’ll get you your fucking cookie.” Jake found his way to the counter, seeing a familiar face. “So, you really are here.”

“Yea dude!” Michael grinned. “I told you, my friend is performing. I normally can’t make it to these things for some reason or another, and I can’t just keep bailing out on my best bro. Have you seen the person you’re looking for?”

Jake scanned the small crowd, looking for Jeremy. There was no sign of his curly hair anywhere in the cafe. “I don’t think so.”

“Hope you find them dude. Now, what can I get you?”

“Chat latte, black with sugar, iced latte and a chocolate chip cookie.”

“You got it!”

Jake waited at the counter until their drinks were ready, thanking Michael as he turned back to the others. Chloe gave him an impressed look.

“Wow, carrying three cups and a cookie?” She smirked. “Nice job.”

“I’m glad my skills are useful to you.” Jake put down the cups, dropping into seat.

“So when is mystery boy gonna get here?” Rich asked, throwing back his coffee. Jake and Chloe winced at how he downed the probably searing coffee so quickly.

“How would I know Rich?” Jake tore a chunk off of Rich’s cookie, ignoring his shout of protest. “For all I know, he might decide not to come this time.”

“If we came out here for no reason, I really am going to find him and then I’ll stab my heel through his shin.” Chloe hummed.

“Chloe, don’t maim Jake’s future boyfriend.” Rich smirked. Jake rolled his eyes.

“Whatever you guys say.”

The open mic started shortly after that. Jeremy still hadn’t showed up, and Recorder Girl was back, but it was much better this time. Her playing wasn’t better, but the look on Chloe’s face was absolutely priceless.

Rich had gone through three cookies by the time it was almost done, and Jake was starting to get discouraged. Chloe had an uncharacteristically sympathetic look on her face as she placed a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Hey. It’s not that big of a deal, right?”

“Right.” It felt like a big deal. It shouldn’t have been, but god did it feel like one.

Rich opened his mouth to say something, but any sound he tried to make was cut off by a familiar slam. Jeremy was standing in the doorway, eyes red and more twigs and petals in his hair. This time he wasn’t struggling for breath, but he was trembling like a leaf in the wind.

“Oh my god, that’s him, isn’t it?” Chloe asked. Jake only nodded.

Jeremy crossed the cafe to the counter, hugging Michael over the counter. They started talking to each other while Michael picked the debris out of Jeremy’s hair, but it was too far away for Jake to hear any of their conversation.

Not that he was an eavesdropper.

“Shit man, looks like Jeremy and the barista are pretty chummy with each other.” Rich commented.

“Yep.” Jake bit down hard on his lip. Rich seemed to realize the error of his previous statement.

“Oh fuck dude, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“Honestly Rich it’s fine.” 

Jake watched Jeremy talk Michael up as he presumably waited for the person currently on stage (a chic with a violin who was actually pretty good) to get off. As soon as her last song ended and she started shuffling offstage, Jeremy gave Michael another quick hug before rushing up to take her place. Jake silently stood up and walked over to Michael, ignoring the “what the fuck are you doing” looks from Chloe and Rich.

He put on his best fake casual smile, which had gotten pretty fucking good after years of practice. “You didn’t tell me the guy you were waiting for was your boyfriend.”

“Huh?” Michael blinked. “Oh, Jeremy isn’t my boyfriend! We’ve been friends since we were, like, three. He’s not exactly…” A sad look crossed over his face. “He hasn’t really been having a good day.”

“Two cups of coffee in a row kind of day?” Jake joked. Michael smiled grimly.

“I guess so.” He cleared his throat. “So did you find your person?”

“He’s, uh, actually…” Jake cleared his throat, nodding to the stage. Michael’s eyes widened. 

“Wait, you were looking for _Jeremy_?”

“I kind of. Saw him at the last open mic and I may have really liked it.”

“Like it as in ‘wow that’s a really good singer’ or ‘I’d date that guy’.”

“Both. Maybe. I dunno.”

Michael leaned back a bit, looking Jake up and down. “Talk to him after his set. You’re gonna have to move in order to catch him before he leaves though.” Jake heard the gentle strumming of ukulele strings. “Go sit back down.”

Michael gently shoved Jake from over the counter. He stumbled back to their seats, sitting down as Jeremy started his song. Chloe gave him The Look.

“You okay?”

Jake smiled. An actual, genuine one. “Yea. I’m doing pretty good.” He turned his attention back to Jeremy up on stage.

_”I’ve been ghosting, I’ve been ghosting along,  
Ghost in your house, ghost in your arms.”_

Jesus, Jake really had it bad. It was the same feeling as the first time Jake heard Jeremy, the same captivation. He didn’t really register Chloe sparing glances and smirks at him.

_”When you’re tossing, when you turn in your sleep,  
It’s because I’m ghosting your dreams.”_

“Okay, I will admit this guy is pretty good.” Rich stage-whispered.

_”And this is why I have decided to pull these old white sheets from my head,  
I'll leave them folded neat and tidy, so that you'll know I'm out of hiding”_

Jake absentmindedly took a drink of his coffee, eyes fixated on the stage. As much as he had been trying to deny it, he really was in deep. Quicksand deep. As in he could feel himself already falling more in love with this guy just sitting here listening to him. Maybe love was a little too strong, but it was definitely a crush.

Maybe that was a little weird? Humans are weird.

Chloe and Rich teased him all throughout Jeremy’s set, but as it went on they paid less attention to Jake and more to the actual singing until by the last song they didn’t make any comments. Michael’s knowing looks didn’t go unnoticed either.

Jeremy started shuffling offstage again, this time flashing a smile at Michael. Rich grinned at Jake, giving him a thumbs up. Jake rocketed to his feet, grabbing his bag and somehow knocking over a woman carrying two cups of coffee.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Jake grabbed a couple napkins from a table and started mopping up the mess on the ground.

“It’s okay.” She said nervously. “I can just get another.”

“Really? I can pay for it if you need I-”

“Really, it’s fine.” She picked up the empty cups, raking back some of the hair that had gotten in her face. “I can clean this up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Completely.”

Jake got back to his feet, turning to go find Jeremy but….

He was gone again.

“Fuck-!” Jake groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I did it again!”

Chloe shoved him from her seat. “Don’t just stand there, dipshit! He just left, he’s probably still out on the street!”

“Go get your man, Jake!” Rich whooped.

“I hate you guys so much.” Jake smiled as he jogged out of the cafe, wrenching open the door.

He looked around. No sign of Jeremy. Jesus this was… this was stupid. Jake was chasing after someone he barely knew. What did he expect was going to happen anyways? He stuffed his hands in his pockets and gathered up fistfuls of fabric. He couldn’t go back inside right now. He needed some air.

Jake ducked into a wide alley way that was basically more of a garden. Some community project or some shit. Either way, there was a bench hidden in between two big hydrangea bushes that would fit Jake’s needs well enough. 

_”Goodbye to my Santa Monica dream,  
Fifteen kids in the backyard drinking wine.”_

Jake stopped in his tracks. He knew that voice. _Holy fuck he knew that voice_. He sprinted down the alley, scanning the sides for the bench.

_”You tell me stories of the sea,  
And the ones you left-”_

Jeremy stopped as Jake came to a stop in front of him, holding the ukulele to his chest like the first time Jake had saw him. They stared unblinkingly at each other, silent and completely still. Jeremy was the first to talk.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was going to get some fresh air but…” Jake trailed off. What was he supposed to say? I’ve been looking for you and I heard your voice so I started running for you?

Jake Dillinger has been in and seen a lot of relationships, both platonic and romantic, and that was a one way ticket to “please never speak to me again.”

Jeremy pursed his lips. “I’m sorry that my sets weren’t all that good when you were there for them.”

Wait. “What?”

“You were staring at me really weirdly. So uh. Sorry.”

“No, no, no, they were good. They were great, actually, I kind of…” He smiled a bit. “I actually only showed up this time so that I could see you because you kind of left an impression on me.”

“Really?” Jeremy looked incredibly skeptical of this. 

“Yea, totally!” Fuck, Jake sounded like some kind of stereotypical surfer dude. “Why didn’t you stay inside? Or I guess why don’t you.”

Jeremy looked down at the ukulele in his lap. “It’s easy to go up and sing, it’s a lot harder to stick around and hope no one says I did bad because, uh, I’m already worrying about that myself.” He let out a strained laugh. “That sounds really dumb.”

“It doesn’t, actually.” Jake held out a hand as Jeremy’s head snapped up to look at him. “Jake Dillinger.”

He reached up, tentatively taking hold of Jake’s hand. “Jeremy Heere.”

“If you want, I can take you back in for coffee. No payment necessary.”

“I don’t drink coffee, but I could really go for a cinnamon roll.”

Jake smiled, pulling Jeremy up to his feet. “Sounds like a deal.”

* * *

After making sure Rich and Chloe weren’t too intimidating, Jake did end up getting Jeremy’s phone number. And he didn’t have to wait a month to do it.

**Author's Note:**

> Well that was fun to write!
> 
> If you want to know the songs used in this it's  
> One More Time With Feeling- Regine Spektor [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysuns_3Qweo ]  
> Ghosting - Mother Mother [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlAiq0_BXac ]  
> Santa Monica Dream - Angus and Julia Stone [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrfVaPNMCM8 ]
> 
> ALSO! Nicknames for Jeremy (the Flower Boy thing) suggested by the writing discord, including but not limited to;  
> -Jeere Bear  
> -daddy  
> -kinky  
> -supercalifragilisticexpialidocisous  
> -Wolfgang  
> -Eric the Bomb-ass Singer  
> -Maurice  
> -Keef  
> -Lint  
> -Towel
> 
> I love you guys. But why do you do this to me.
> 
> Catch me on tumblr as squip-grandma


End file.
